I'm with Maggie Smith — my relationship with progress is complicated. But what's the alternative? It is always, as she says in the final line, "now again."
(Do you ever want to say, "Stop the world, I want to get off"? Me too.)
Let's keep trying to turn our Before Pictures, the ones that embody the best of us, into now, into the future. And into poetry, compassion, love for our fellow human beings, and justice.
The time is now.
The Before Picture
by Maggie Smith
It’s complicated, my relationship status
with progress. I often prefer
the “before” picture. The future
is where I’m going only because
I have no choice, because time
It’s complicated, my relationship status
with progress. I often prefer
the “before” picture. The future
is where I’m going only because
I have no choice, because time
....
(Read the rest here, at the Poetry Foundation.)
~~~~~~~~~~
The Poetry Friday round-up is being hosted this week by Jan at Bookseed Studio.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.
13 comments:
Oh, I, too, have a complicated relationship with the past so this poem by Maggie Smith resonates, especially the "no choice" part. The repetition of the word "refresh" feels oddly comforting and like an advisory. Thanks for this poem which I hadn't seen before! I am a huge fan of Maggie Smith and am looking forward to this collection.
Apparently the young people online are feeling whistful for 2016, which seems wild to me - wasn't that just yesterday? Wasn't it decades ago? I can't decide, time feels all wibbly wobbly sometimes, like Maggie Smith says, I keep being dragged forward in time before I've even blinked.
* Mona, I’m really looking forward to her new collection too. Looks like it will be published in March.
* Jane, yes to wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff and yes to how 2016 feels like yesterday and a million years ago.2026 still sounds like it should be “the future.”
Time often feels like a blur, and progress often feels intimidating. Yet here we are in the now.
This poem and the atmosphere surroounding it suggests a longing for sometihng lost,something that evokes nostalgia. Good choice, Karen. Your chosen poem makes the reader consider the discrepancies between past recollections and their current reality. I find myslef recalling lyrics from Kevin Johnson's 'Irridescent Shadows.' -'Where those days as good as I remember, or am I looking through the rainbows in my mind again?
I think this poem is a good study of enjambment. I am always reminding myself to live in the present. Now was on my list for one little words this year. Thanks, Margaret Simon
Sometimes, when big things happen, I do want that "now" to go away, but find that that thinking really doesn't help me what I often call "tune in". I will save this lovely poem, Karen. I always appreciate your thoughtful sharing!
Karen, appreciations. She became iconic with her poem "Good Bones" [should have bought the same-name collection] & continues to see tough things things slant in a way I feel energized by, a lift up from totally downhearted. Somehow I've lost track of keeping current with this unusual poet. I look forward to A SUIT OR A SUITCASE, her next one & thank you for sharing "The Before Picture". your fan, jan who loves/collects old things.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/search/books/_/N-/Ntt-A+suit+or+a+suitcase+Maggie+smith
Oh, so delicious. Again now. What a great capture of how we feel...strung along, baited...but what can we do? Love it.
Your poem fits well with one of the ones I shared, Karen, in that I thought it was a speaker from the past, reaching forward to connect with us. We think that we are separate from all those befores, when we are really connected. And like you said, making the future.
What a poem full of the truth! What a poet! What luck that I live in the same town as Maggie Smith and have tickets to attend the book launch of her new poetry collection, A Suit or a Suitcase, the hardcover home of this poem!
* Rose, yes, like it or not, here we are.
* Alan, memory and nostalgia are such interesting things. We never really know where they’ll take us!
* Margaret, I agree — the line breaks are intriguing to consider and analyze.
* Linda B., tuning into the “now” is really ideal, since it’s all we actually have. My brain sometimes wants to object to that truth, but there it is. Repeatedly. :)
* Jan, yes, “Good Bones” is a favorite and I can’t wait for this new collection! I like your description of her work as something that, despite tough subjects, energizes you.
* Linda M., yes, what can we do? We roll with it.
* I agree, Tabatha, about the unseen but vital connections. We are our Befores, our Nows, and our Afters all at once.
* Mary Lee, lucky you! I would love to be there for that! I know you’ll report back to all of us! :)
The future is always now, isn't it? I hear a world BEGGING us to act. Pray for courage and for good.
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